1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to computer systems, and more particularly, to power management and configuration control.
2. Description of the Related Art
As computer technology advances, the demand for more functionality in computer systems increases. The demand for additional functionality often times requires an increase in required signals in order to implement the new functions. The need for additional signal space may often times result in higher pin counts on the various chips on both the computer system motherboard as well as within the various peripheral devices (e.g CD-ROM players, etc.). The increased pin counts can become a significant cost factor at both the chip level and the system level.
In addition to the demand for increased functionality, there is an increasing demand for configuration and power management functions to be built into computer systems. With the advent of technologies such as plug-and-play, as well as new bus types, such as Universal Serial Bus, there are more compatibility demands on computer systems. Often times, these demands may require additional pins to be added to the various system chips that support these functions.
As previously noted, increased pin counts can become a significant cost factor in computer systems. At both the chip level and the system level, higher pin counts may result in increased material and manufacturing costs. Furthermore, at the system level, higher pin counts may result in additional signal routing requirements, which can lead to design problems and additional costs. At times, the additional pin count requirements may make the cost of implementing new functionality too high, and thus, some functions may not be implemented in a given computer system.